Rain pounds the car as I drive along. Headlights fade behind me. I’m rushing to make time. Hoping to get home in time.
Time. It waits for no man. I had a good time tonight. I aim not to waste time. I saw a film called ‘in time’. It’s got me thinking about time.
But now, its time to go to bed and sleep.
More tomorrow (probably!)
This evening I attended a C.U. meeting. I thought the last event I went to was C.U., but apparently, I was mistaken! This event was rather different. But I’ll get to that later. I wanted to go for two reasons – 1) I am a christian and 2) I want to meet other christians and be in fellowship with them. I’ve been asking God to help me meet some christian people and so C.U. seemed an obvious solution! Growing up, I didn’t really have a lot of christian friends; the number of the few christian friends that I had who were on fire for God was minimal. I desperately wanted to meet fervent christians. People I can walk alongside. I’ve wanted this for a long time.
All aboard the train of thought! Have your tickets ready!
In order to attend said meeting, I had to brave the treacherous lorry-ridden motorways. But with a twist – It was NIGHT TIME! The road was drenched in darkness, and tonight was the first time i’ve driven at night on a motorway alone. To be quite honest, it was rather scary. Or at least, the concept was rather scary. I switched on my headlights and ventured forth into the billowing darkness. (I experimented with fog lights but it didn’t seem to provide a higher beam or anything, so I switched back to regular headlights.)
I had a playlist of She & Him smoothly playing through the stereo, so this kept me calm as I sped along. I’ve recently discovered she and him. If you like laid back, old-school rock n rolly catchy tunes, they are the band to look up.
So there I was on the motorway, She and Him like auditory honey in my ears. And I got to thinking… The whole experience I was having (bar the music) was a lot like playing an on-rails shoot em up. Why, you ask? Because I was not inclined to change lanes much. Also, because even though I could change lane, the destination was pre-set. Finally, because it was dark, the lights on other cars were like things approaching and passing. It reminded me a lot of the game ‘sin and punishment’, except for the fact that there was no shooting, no electro music and no dog with a chain for a tail. If you’ve played it, you’ll enjoy this quote:
“I WONT LET YOU KILL LEDA!!!!”
*then a pair of eyes appears*
So yeah, I felt like I was on-rails a bit. Arriving at my destination, what seemed like a mass exodus of non road aware people were making it their mission to run right in front of where I was trying to drive. And then standing there and staring at my car. The question here is why? Why would you just stand in the middle of a road and stare at a car? Was there a flash mob thing going on that I didn’t know about? They were like deer caught in headlights or something. About 10 minutes later, I managed to park.
Taking note of the time, I had to leg it up to the C.U. meeting room. The meeting was good; it was a lot more up to date than the other meeting I went to earlier in the week / last week/ whenever it actually was. They asked the question: what is truth and why is it important? There was a guy on a video clip they showed who said “truth is the opposite of lies. If you follow lies thats bad and you don’t know where you’re going. ohhhhhh.” Tru dat. Even to the ohhh. haha.
The leader of the meeting stated there were two types of truth. Cheese truth and tuesday truth. Cheese truth is of personal preference and can be chosen as a truth, eg. ‘I like cheese. Me and it are bezzies.” Tuesday truth is fact, eg. ‘today is tuesday. You might want it to be friday, but its not. Have some cheese.’ Following this, we looked up some biblical truths such as this:
John 14:6
New International Version (NIV)
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
This is a truth. A tuesday truth! Its a fact. Jesus came to earth to reconcile us and God. Through Jesus, we find life. Through Jesus, we can be in relationship with God. But you don’t get this if you don’t follow Jesus.
And after meeting some new people and praying together, we had a time of worship, which included the music of Matt Redman. 
After the meeting, a few of us went to a chair area and discussed churches and what truth is and had some philosophical debates. We covered topics from euthanasia to music to justin bieber’s hair in the space of about 5 minutes. We built on the truth discussion, and I interjected with cheeseday truth – a truth that you can choose to believe that may or may not be true. We laughed this off, and then discussed cheese rolling. And various other things. Someone suggested we should set up a national day of cheese. I met some nice people tonight! Nice, quirky, interesting, christian people!
I stayed awhile, and then hopped back in the car to brave the even-darker-than-before motorway home. I thanked God for the evening He had provided me with. I thanked Him for the people He’d made me cross paths with. I’m thankful for fellowship and relationships with other christian peers. I popped on a playlist of Tim Hughes and Matt Redman and worshipped on the way home. It was a bit like ‘sin and punishment’ but without the sin or punishment elements. It was more like mariokart meets singstar meets worship central; at least it was like this if you want to continue the whole on rails theme. If not, it was like an ordinary night time motorway drive where the driver was worshipping God.
We’re nearly at the station where the train of thought grinds to a halt. Thank-you for travelling stickandgooniverse rail. We hope you had a pleasant journey, and will travel with us again in the future. choo choo.
Tonight was on rails for two reasons. One, the whole motorway thing described up there ^ and two, because although I was slightly apprehensive, I went to the meeting anyway and God provided me with bible study, fellowship and the chance to meet new people! That is a truth! When you want things to happen, pray it through – ask God to help you and He will (within reason)! Truth! Tuesday truth! Super truth!
The truth is this: when we ask God to show up, He does. When we ask Him to help us, He does. Even though the outcome we desire may not occur right away, God puts us on the rails and allows us to travel in the right direction. God always comes through on His promises.
I’m sat here on this little leather sofa. Why am I doing this? Is it because I finished my 9 o’clock meeting at 19:15? Yes, its partly that. The other reason is because autumn is coming and its flipping cold outside! It’s the sort of chill that you get on a San Franciscan summers day, or on a regular autumn England day. I know what you’re thinking – most days in England are cold. That is quite true. However, it appears to have dropped a massive 2 degrees, thus rendering it ‘hollister hoodie weather’. They’re thicker and wonderfully cosy, as well as being stylish.
So, anyways, here I am killing a bit of time until my next meeting. I feel that this carpet is a bit busy. If you try to read something with it as the backdrop, the carpet messes with your eyes. At least i’m warm and comfy. Thank you God.
I look out of the window, and I can see that autumn is on it’s way. The leaves are browning and dropping off the trees, the winds are harsh, etc, etc. Being as I’m driving up and down in this, I have a sort of autumn playlist for the car. (my summer playlist included death cab for cutie, party rock anthem and many others). Aside from listening to Relient K’s “is for karaoke” and Phil Wickham’s “Response” (both of which are dynamite – get listening!), here is my playlist:
The Golden Age, Asteroid Galaxy Tour
I like this song because of the piano-ey bits. Also it’s dead catchy and the way the lead singer merges the words ‘get’ and ‘away’ to a sort of ‘geaway’ is interesting!
I Wish That I Could See You Soon, Herman Dune
I saw this song on a beer advert at the cinema. Another catchy one with nice bits of brass.
Neapolitan Dreams, Lisa Mitchell
I think this is the only song I know with a xylophone or glockenspiel solo. It’s nice and it sends my cat to sleep.
Fools Rush In, She & Him
Got this song on a Levi’s jeans promotion or something. She has a nice voice and it’s a bit crooner-y. This song would also get on well with Michael Bublé.
Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, She &Him
Just discovered She & Him. Very melodic song. A couple of listens and you find yourself joining in.
In The Sun, She & Him
Ok, got a bit of a She & Him thing going on here. This song is even catchier than the last one. Brilliant. It will be stuck in your head for days.
The World As I See It, Jason Mraz
Jason Mraz is one of my all time favourite singers. His latest single is a bit different to his previous work. It’s still beautiful though.
Ghosts, The Head and The Heart
Another band I discovered recently when I saw them live as warm up for death cab. So catchy, so melodic, so good.
Coeur D’alene, The Head and The Heart
Yes got a bit of a head and the heart thing going too. Wonderful piano on this song.
Rivers and Roads, the head and the heart
A song about people moving away. A bit like my friends moving away. Nice tune though!
Down in The Valley, the Head and The Heart
Great piano solo, a proper good one to sing along to, despite the slow start.
The Ghost Inside, Broken Bells
Broken Bells is a great band. This is a great song with a nice beat.
Mongrel Heart, Broken Bells
This song changes style halfway through and then switches back. There is a brilliant trumpet solo. Marvellous!
Song For Kelly Huckaby, Death Cab For Cutie
One of my favourite death cab songs. Listen to it and you’ll fall in love with it.
Photobooth, Death Cab for Cutie
It’s a lovely song. Also, it’s about the end of the summer. Which technically is around about now!
You are a Tourist, Death Cab For Cutie
Catchy guitar riff. Great song. And the drums are wonderful.
Stay Young Go Dancing, Death Cab for Cutie
Lovely song with a beautiful melody.
Doors Unlocked and Open, Death Cab for Cutie
This song grows on me more every time I hear it. The chorus is dead catchy.
So there you have it, my autumn drive-time playlist. It gets me through that motorway drive!
I’m thankful to God for all of this wonderful music!
This afternoon I set off on the drive home. I thought I’d leave around 4pm, so that I could avoid the traffic and miss the school run clog-ups. Whilst driving through a nearing town, I started to thank God for various things – for everything He’s done for me, from great friends to the privilege of education to finding a nice little chippy for lunch. (Massive fish and an abundance of chips, £4 – marvellous!). I thanked Him that He provided me with a place to park my car, so that I can get things done. Long story short, I had a little bit of a prayer-fest! I thanked Him for His creation and the beauty of it. I noticed the branches on the trees swaying a little. After passing through the town, I had to concentrate to find the route home. (I simply HAD to concentrate, because a few minutes earlier I had taken a wrong turn and ended up driving towards Caton or somewhere!)
A few minutes later I got on to the motorway and put my foot down. My little car has a top speed of 84mph, so you really have to floor that pedal to get it up there! The branches on the trees on the sides of the motorway were really swaying. It was dead windy. I thought nothing of it and pressed on. I passed the service station and overtook a few cars and everything was fine. I was aware of the slight wind resistance. And then it happened.
There was nothing at the sides of the motorway. No trees, no buildings, no bushes – nothing! Nothing, that is, but full on wind. I really had to grip the steering wheel. My palms were sweating. Every time a 4X4 or a lorry or large-ish vehicle passed, my little car was being pulled or pushed away by the wind. At one point it was so strong that I was swept nearly to the hard shoulder and then shortly after nearly into the next lane. It was really scary. I was in the left lane and was behind a slow vehicle doing about 55mph, but the wind’s effects were still monstrous. I was all like ‘pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease God, let me get safely home’. And thats when He reminded me of this:
Mark 4
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica
I saw this as similar to my situation. Here is how:
